Configuring hundreds and sometimes thousands of mobile devices is part of an IT administrator’s job description. It’s a task that can be labor intensive and eat up valuable resource time. When you add in the time end users also spend configuring their devices once they receive them, the productivity costs are even higher. This is a productive time I believe could (and should) be spent on more strategic activities.
One way to gain back this productive time for yourself and your end users is through the use of a custom mobile solution like Knox Customization. With the customization abilities of Knox, you can remotely tailor devices based on profiles you create to meet specific requirements. This allows you to batch-configure multiple devices at once — saving time while ensuring you have the control you need.
Naturally, I think being able to deliver end users a purpose-built device that is ready for business use out-of-the-box is a great offering for the busy IT administrator. In a Forrester study1 on the return on investment (ROI) of this custom mobile solution, Forrester found that it has a 164 percent ROI over three years and a payback period of only two months. Additionally, using the Knox Customization solution reduced device deployment time by 30 minutes per device.
Enhanced Security Through Integration With MDM
The customization tool also enhances security on mobile devices by augmenting a business’s current MDM solution. For example, one U.S. energy company found that their MDM solution only hid applications and bloatware. Since the applications weren’t actually removed, employees were able to alter the settings on their devices, gain access and run non-company-sanctioned programs.
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With Samsung’s custom mobile solution, however, the organization was able to lock down and control access to applications while still working seamlessly with its MDM solution to manage and monitor device security. Not only did this allow the energy company to deliver devices to its field workers with the features and applications that would enhance productivity, but it also let them eliminate distracting applications that weren’t essential to workers’ jobs.
I have also seen these same configuration and control features in use cases in retail or hospitality environments. For example, when businesses need the ability to lock down the tablet in a public-facing kiosk to a single purpose use, such as allowing a shopper to browse through the store’s inventory, but prohibiting them from surfing the internet and looking at competitors’ sites.
Ability to Batch Configure Multiple Devices
Knox Customization also allows organizations to quickly configure devices remotely, so end users can simply power on their devices to activate the appropriate configuration and settings. Using profiles that can be remotely pushed out to the device, the provisioning team can determine what applications and technologies each profile will be able to access on the device. By being able to configure profiles and have a catalog of preferences, IT staff can save time and labor.
This same remote configuration can be used when devices need to be wiped and reconfigured. No longer having to walk end users through the configuration process after a remote wipe, has been shown to reduce the time required to reset the configured setting from one hour to 20 minutes. With this regained time, IT administrators can shift their focus to high-value projects within the organization.
As mobile devices continue to become more pervasive and essential in the workplace, I believe it’s equally imperative that IT has an automated solution that allows them to provision and deploy multiple purpose-built devices in a productive manner. Samsung’s Knox Customization achieves this goal while also delivering a strong ROI for the business.
Check out Knox Configure, Samsung’s next-generation customization solution, to see how you can custom configure a large number of devices to meet your specific business needs.
1The Total Economic Impact™ Of Knox Customization For Samsung Devices, a February 2017 commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Samsung
